Kelly Hayes
Tampa Democratic Sen. Janet Cruz raised nearly $90,000 ahead of this year’s Legislative Session as she continues her reelection campaign for Senate District 18, her campaign announced this week.
Cruz collected $86,416 in the time before Session, split between $22,416 raised by her campaign and $64,000 fundraised by her political committee, Building the Bay.
“We’re all hands on deck for this race,” Cruz said in a statement. “It’s the single mothers, the families struggling to afford to put food on the table, and the future of this great state that power me day in and day out to keep going. This race will be tough but, if you know me, I’ve never backed down from a fight.”
Over the course of the 2022 cycle, Cruz has raised $693,409, according to her campaign, which provided the latest fundraising numbers.
And, Cruz’s most recent haul will be her last through March — while the Legislature is in Session, sitting lawmakers are barred from fundraising, both for their own campaign accounts and for political committees.
While Cruz does not yet face a challenger, the tight 2018 race and redistricting means it will likely be a top target for future Senate President Kathleen Passidomo, the Naples Republican who will be quarterbacking the GOP’s Senate campaign efforts this cycle.
Cruz narrowly flipped the Senate seat in 2018, beating former Republican Sen. Dana Young by 411 votes out of nearly 208,000 cast, a margin of just 0.2 percentage points.
Current district borders give Cruz a slim advantage. According to book closing reports published ahead of the 2020 election, Democrats make up about 37% of the electorate compared to a 34% share for Republicans. Democrats have 11,459 more registered voters than Republicans.
The slim voter registration advantage will be tested in a midterm that’s certain to become a referendum on the Joe Biden administration, especially if the current tug-of-war over suburban voters stretches into 2022. All signs are it will.
